Titanic Sub Documentary Slammed Over Timing: 'How Is This Okay?'

Social media users have criticized plans to air a documentary on the missing submersible Titan on Thursday, as a desperate search continues in the Atlantic.

Search teams are racing against time to find the advanced submersible, which was carrying five people to tour the wreckage of the Titanic at a depth of about 12,500 feet. Crews have been searching since Sunday. Officials now estimate that the people on board will likely run out of breathable air on Thursday.

The identities of the five passengers aboard the submersible have been confirmed by the authorities and their families as Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate; French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet; British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood.

As an international search and rescue effort continues, it has been revealed that U.K. TV network Channel 5 will on Thursday air a documentary called Titanic Sub: Lost at Sea. The program will be presented by 5 News host Dan Walker, per Variety.

Produced by U.K.-based media production and broadcast journalism company ITN, the documentary will reportedly "go beyond" regular news coverage to include conversations with experts and probe the fascination with the Titanic shipwreck and extreme tourism.

"This programme will chart everything from the exploration itself, to the rise of extreme tourism, to the rescue attempts, but above all it will tell a very human story that has captured the nation which is about 5 people, all with families, who are trapped at the bottom of the ocean," Ian Rumsey, managing director of content for ITN, said in a statement. "Our expertise and heritage in fast-turnaround documentaries and reputation for responsible filmmaking means we always treat such stories with great sensitivity."

As news of the documentary plans circulated, a number of social media users criticized its timing.

Reacting to Variety's article on the documentary, one Twitter user commented: "Could not even wait for the oxygen to run out. Capitalism at its best. Disgusting."

Another wrote that they "can't believe" Channel 5 is "releasing a documentary about the Titan sub on the very day the occupants run out of air. Depravity at its finest."

In response to another Twitter user complaining about those joking about the search for the submersible, one detractor said: "Fully agree, what gets to me is [that] @channel5_tv will be airing 'Titanic Sub: Lost at Sea documentary' hours after the submarine will run out of oxygen today. HOW IS THIS OKAY?"

Tagging the Twitter account of U.K. broadcasting regulator the Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, another comment said: "I find this totally and utterly disgraceful, no compassion is being shown for the families awaiting news and fearing the worst."

A different Twitter user suggested that it is only a matter of time before the harrowing search becomes the subject of a Hollywood movie.

"I was wondering earlier how long it's going to take for Hollywood to profit by making a cinematic portrayal of the story. A 'based on true events' claustrophobic drama," they wrote. "We all know it's coming."

Amid the complaints, a few Twitter users said that they were looking forward to seeing what information the documentary will provide.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Channel 5 via email for comment.

As the search continues for Titan, operator OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement: "We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families."

The vessel went missing on Sunday morning after setting off from Newfoundland in Canada. The descent from the surface to the wreckage of the Titanic, which lies around 370 miles south-southeast off the coast of Newfoundland, takes approximately eight hours.

A unified command was set up on Tuesday including experts from the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Canadian armed forces and Coast Guard, and OceanGate, the Titan's parent company, to find the missing submersible.